India’s Union Cabinet has approved a multifaceted Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP) to spur investment and enhance production, according to the government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB). Source: News
ESAI: Libyan chaos to keep oil flow low
Oil production in Libya—recently one fourth of its 1.65 million b/d average prior to the start of civil unrest in 2011—will “remain constrained by realities on the ground perhaps for years,” warns ESAI Energy LLC, Wakefield, Mass. Source: News
NZRC formally unveils Te Mahi Hou expansion
New Zealand Refining Co. Ltd. (NZRC), the country’s sole refiner, has officially opened the long-awaited $365-million (NZ) Te Mahi Hou (TMH) expansion project at its 107,000-b/d Marsden Point refinery at Northland on the North Island’s east coast. Source: News
Det norske secures drilling permit for well off Norway
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Det norske oljeselskap AS a drilling permit for well 16/1-26 S in production license 001 B offshore Norway. The well will be drilled by the Maersk Interceptor drilling facility. Source: News
Eni succeeds with first production test of Zohr field
Eni SPA has successfully performed the production test of the Zohr 2X well, the first appraisal well of the Zohr natural gas discovery on the Shorouk block offshore Egypt. The Zohr 2X well was drilled to 13,684 ft, encountering 1,614 ft of continuous hydrocarbon column in a carbonate sequence with 305 m of net pay. […]
SOCAR lets contract for Sumgait petrochemical plant revamp
State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) subsidiary Azerikimya Production Union (APU) has let a contract to a division of Technip SA, Paris, for work related to the ongoing modernization and reconstruction of APU’s ethylene and polyethylene (PE) production plant in Sumgait, north of Baku. Source: News
MARKET WATCH: Crude prices fall as production freeze meeting deemed unlikely
Crude oil prices on the New York and London markets hit 3-month highs on Mar. 9, but the upward momentum was quelled on Mar. 10 amid increasing doubts about action being taken among major producers to freeze output. Source: News
Oil and gas groups, states outline problems with BLM’s fracing rule
The US Bureau of Land Management issued a hydraulic fracturing regulation rule that lacks justification, cannot be administered technically, exceeds the agency’s regulatory authority, and violates federal law, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Western Energy Alliance jointly said. Source: News
Dow’s Oyster Creek PDH unit reaches full capacity
Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., has fully commissioned a 750,000-tonne/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit as part of the previously announced ethylene production expansion and upgrade project at its Oyster Creek complex in Freeport, Tex. Source: News
Lower fossil fuel prices could affect CCS substantially, speaker says
A wider spread between fossil fuel and renewable energy prices could create both opportunities and challenges beyond enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for carbon capture and storage (CCS) proponents, the executive director of the North American Carbon Capture & Storage Association told a Washington audience. Source: News